Why buy from AXMINSTER TOOLS?

[jimi43]

We have had a few nice comments on here about AXMINSTER TOOLS and their customer service...but until now I have only been able to buy little things...I think the most expensive being the Veritas Honing Guide!

As can be seen from my other thread...I went mad this week and bought a milling machine....a huge outlay for me and so I resisted cheaper suppliers and went for AXMINSTER...who, only a bit more expensive, had the very good reputation here.

And it is very well deserved.

I had a small blip with the one I bought so called the very pleasant HOLLY at the Sittingbourne shop who immediately told me that, after confirming with the Manager...David....they would be out today to replace it with the correct one!

I was advise at every step what was happening...even being called by COLIN when he was on his way. He turned up exactly when he said he would...swapped over the machines...I then paid the balance on his remote machine and I was up and running with my machine.

So...if you ever think that the accolades were hype and maybe you should buy from another supplier (maybe overseas) to save a bit of dosh...DON'T! These guys are magic and went out of their way to provide a customer service that is without equal in today's market.

WELL DONE AXMINSTER and particularly David, Holly and Colin.....superb service indeed! =D>

Jim

 

[woodbloke]

...and what's even better Jim, is that Axminster is one of the few companies that will deliver heavy machinery into your workshop and put it exactly where you want it. Many other companies will simply drop the crate at the kerbside and then it's up to you how you get it into the 'shop and if it's really heavy, that can cause a bit of a problemo :-" - Rob

 

[Mike Wingate]

Nice catalogue, great staff. Willing to free deliver anything that is out of stock if you visit them. Warrington showroom only 20 miles away. Cheapest sellers of Parrot vice. Awful own brand machinery, esp bandsaws and pillar drills and scroll saws, so many faults and quality problems, but what do you do? Where else to go?

 

[RogerS]

....Awful own brand machinery, esp bandsaws and pillar drills and scroll saws, so many faults and quality problems, .

I think that that is a bit of a generalisation.

 

[James C]

I have an Axminster branded Bandsaw and it is very good. No tracking problems, realitvely easy to setup and very easy to use.

Produces excellent quality cuts as well.

 

[Jonzjob]

I go along with all of the praise and can say that they give the same service to here. I had bought a couple of 24v batteries for my Axy drill. One of them was faulty and I phoned them to tell them. They were going to send a replacement straight away. I did a couple more checks after I had put the phone down and found that all that was wrong was the led indicators for battery charge level were faulty and the battery was OK. I phoned them straight back to tell them no need to send a replacement. They said of course they would replace it, it's faulty. I managed to tell them that it wasn't a problem for me, so don't send it. The immediate reply was that they put a fiver into my account for my next purchase..

I have had a couple of tiny things where I phoned them and a replacement was offered straight away, but I told them they weren't necessary. I just wanted to let them know in case there was either a production or storage problem.

They may be a bit more expensive, but well worth it for the service and peace of mind =D> =D>

Well done Axminster!!

Edit : - I forgot to say that I have bought several Axy tools and had no problems with them at all. I have had this drill press for years now and would be lost without it. The only difference I can see to mine is that it has a keyed chuck.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ax ... rod719353/

 

[Stormer1940]

Fair comments made about Axminster Tools and they do come in useful but when I had a problem and took a machine back that to be honest had only had very little use over a year the manager was very quick off the mark to jump on the fact that it was out of warranty but even if it was out of warranty why had the machine failed with so few uses??

Threads on the table stripping so the clamp couldn't be tightened properly which meant the work piece would ride up with the chisel. Mortise chisels jamming up in softwood (Yes the auger bit was out far enough). The guy even blamed the holes stripping their threads on me tightening the bolts too tight. Should they be built this soft in the first place?

They did however replace the sliding table on the machine but I was left to feel that they had done a massive favour for me when it actually came down to the engineering of the machine being crap... Just say I now have an older machine that was built to last and is a beaver on amphetamines.

Sorry to go against the grain... :roll: For that one reason I only buy from there if I am desperate for something.

 

[woodbloke]

....Awful own brand machinery, esp bandsaws and pillar drills and scroll saws, so many faults and quality problems, .

I think that that is a bit of a generalisation.

Agreed, I don't think it's fair to brand it as 'awful'. If there is a fault, there's no question that Axminster will go the extra mile (and then some, as we all know) to rectify it. That said Ax machinery is probably no worse than any other stuff imported from Chiwan - Rob

 

[mac1012]

I think it is a quality control issue had two machines smallest band saw and the tensioning screw was out of line but with bit of persuasion was fine the machine performs really well , and I had a small bench sander with casting defects which they are happy to put right and send replacements with 2 packs of disks worh a tenner thrown in , exellent customer sevice though

 

[woodbloke]

I think any of this Chiwanese stuff isn't going to be fit for use 'straight out the box'...it's all going to need a fettle to a lesser or greater degree and that's one of the reasons it's fairly economical. If you want to buy European (Felder,Knapp, Robland etc) which may generally be built to a higher spec, then expect to pay a premium price but also expect a minimal 'set up' time - Rob

 

[promhandicam]

If there is a fault, there's no question that Axminster will go the extra mile (and then some, as we all know) to rectify it. That said Ax machinery is probably no worse than any other stuff imported from Chiwan - Rob

Not quite sure I agree with that. I recently enquired about getting a replacement motor for one of their professional dust extractors and was initially told no problem, although not something they had on the shelf. After some chasing, I was finally told that actually it would be 3 months to get one! Even when I offered to pay the difference to have it sent by airfreight - an additional £150 - it was still going to be at least 6 weeks. This for a motor that was already over double the price of an equivalent motor from a UK motor specialist. The reason I didn't immediately go down this route was that the axminster motor was non standard - had a non standard diameter shaft and non standard flange. Thankfully Bob (9fingers) was willing to modify a standard motor and I was able to sort the problem out and I now have a working dust extractor again. I also know that there have been a number of problems with the supply of hand held edgebanders leaving customers less than impressed, so maybe there is a difference between the retail and trade parts of the business?

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Awful own brand machinery, esp bandsaws and pillar drills and scroll saws, so many faults and quality problems, but what do you do?

Very unfair.

Even as a pro nearly all my machines are Axi and not of the plus range either. Table saw is fantastic (10" big one) the fence is the best I have ever used. Thicknesser Plainer is very good (106 model) and even others prefer the thicknesser part to other larger brands. Bandsaw is quite good (350 model) but is the only one machine from axi I would say I wished I brought a different brand or model and thats only because with the bandsaw fence upgrade its a pain to change the blades and adjusting the guides is fiddly. XY Mortiser is very under powered but its not the big model and everything else is very good.

With an axi machine I have only ever had one fault and they sorted it and me out. Had some trouble getting hold of a part for the table saw due to stock issues but they never forgot and even though out of warranty they didn't invoice me.

A problem with a hand tools (bench grinder) they did keep getting it wrong with sending the correct part but they never gave up on me and even sent a new grinder without wanting the old one back and it was only the switch that needed replacing.

Machines on a hole very good. Hand tools I have never used. Power tools only used the grinder but its OK. Service is the best I have ever experienced.

 

[Peter T]

I have an Axminster branded Bandsaw and it is very good. No tracking problems, realitvely easy to setup and very easy to use.

Produces excellent quality cuts as well.

+1, couldn't agree more.

My Axi bandsaw is far better than the cr*py Schepach thing I had before.

 

[mac1012]

whether its chinese or not you should expect a certain standard and some (not all )of their castings do not live up to what they are proffessing to sell its still a punters hard earned money so when you recieve something substandard as to what they are saying they will provide then thats what it is substandard, whether its 100 or a 1000 i dont buy into this oh well you only paid this price so you should expect this etc etc ....once the casting i recieved on a sander was bent and paint coming off thats why i said its a quality control issue so should i just think oh well i only paid 75 pounds for it ?

No i didnt i rang them and they were very good about sorting it and every consumer is entitled to do that

Mark

 

[Grahamshed]

I have an Axminster branded Bandsaw and it is very good. No tracking problems, realitvely easy to setup and very easy to use.

+1
I have had nothing but good experiences with them and have ordered many things.

 

[Mike Wingate]

3 large bandsaws.4 scroll saws, 2 large floor and 4 bench mounted pillar drills. 4" belt sander. O.K. they are in school workshops, but the bandsaws are only used by trained staff. My friend bought a metalturning lathe that would not accept the chuck. There is an old (40 plus years) Startrite S2 bandsaw and my own 362S at home that are so superior in use. The handles on the drills and on the tables are poor. The 4" belt sander is underpowered and of poor construction. It is for the user to choose his tools. ( my ex HoD at school). I really like the stores and website plus the catalogue. I cannot get the offer magazines, nor club emails, even though that was set up by the manager. I do buy lots from Axminster and do reccomend them to others. Win some lose some.

 

[JonnyD]

Ive had some pretty poor service from axminster recently. Ordered earlier this year an edgebander and was told 4 weeks delivery which I was ok with. After 4 weeks there was no sign of it and no contact from axminster advising on the delay. After getting peed off and emailing them i got a reply advising of a delivery date which was 99 percent certain and I would be advised of any delays. This Date came and went and I wasn't contacted about the delay which I think is extremely bad service . They eventually phoned about delivery only because it had been that long they had to get the card details again. The machine which was quite expensive turned up 14 weeks late in the end. Not impressed at all with Axminster.

Cheers

Jon

 

[woodbloke]

... O.K. they are in school workshops.

That just about sums it up Mike. As an ex-Technology and CDT teacher I know from personal experience the grief that machines go through in a school shop, though we did have a Jet belt sander which was very good (granted, not Axminster's own) - Rob

 

[James C]

Well the Axminster band saw I mentioned earlier was bought for my school workshop on the recommendation of several people on this forum. For the price it can do so much more than equivalent sheppachs and startrites.

My experience of new startrite machines seems to be that they are made to be poorer quality than the axminster that I have. Older startrite machines are exceptional but the new ones I think are from chaiwan, or sport similar qualities at least.

 

[Mike Wingate]

I was using a Jet thickness sander a few weeks ago on my Ukulele building course. The main alloy yoke that supports the top drum and height adjustment had lost its threads and had been rebuilt properly at the owners expense. I really don't know what people 's expectations are with tools. Old stuff, if it has lasted seems to go on. My 352 bandsaw needed a new switch last year. The rest of it is still brilliant. The old cast iron lathes at school are still going strong, but the newer stuff does not have the same qualities.